


Of Love and Pedigree

by EchoDeltaNine



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, F/M, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Verse, Omega!Merlin, Pregnancy, Rape/Non-con Elements, alpha!arthur, dubcon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:05:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1612733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoDeltaNine/pseuds/EchoDeltaNine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captured at a young age, Merlin is an unfortunate participant in a villainous breeding ring.  When he's let loose at the beginning of his heat, he could never have anticipated finding the one Alpha that would bond to him forever, or that he would lose everything just after he had gained it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Love and Pedigree

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, all. This is my first foray into the Omega verse, but I am so excited to be attempting to write something so out of my normal genre. This is, unfortunately, unedited, but I am looking for a Merlin beta, if anyone is interested. Also, this is a working title. Please help with that! Thanks for reading, and any and all suggestions/comments/kudos are welcome and encouraged. Thank you!

Merlin huddled in the corner of the room, his body shielding Freya’s from the prying eyes of the rest of the group.  Will hovered behind him, pacing restlessly as Freya clung to him, her hands fisted into the front of his tunic, tears soaking the thin fabric.

            “Shh,” he murmured, rubbing her back.  “Freya, shh.”

            “I can’t—Merlin—“

            “Shh.” Merlin held Freya close, his mind whirring.  “Shh, Freya, it will be alright.”

            This only sent her into more distress, and she sobbed into his chest, her whole body shaking.

            Merlin sighed, shifting slightly in order to look over his shoulder at Will.  His best friend met his gaze with a worried frown.

            “We need to tell Gaius,” Merlin whispered.

            “No,” Will snapped.  “No, they’ll take her.”

            “Will,” Merlin said, trying to remain calm.  “We need to tell Gaius.  Or they _will_ find out.  And they _will_ take her.”

            “No, Merlin—“ Freya sobbed, twisting his shirt in her hands. 

            “I won’t let them take you,” he soothed gently, pressing a kiss to her hair. “It will be alright.”

            “Merlin,” Will hissed, crouching down next to him.  His expression was fierce and his mouth was set in anger.  “We can’t tell anybody.”

            “They will find out either way,” Merlin said softly.  “Gaius might have something.  He’s done it before.”

            “Yes, for you,” Will snapped.  He brushed a frustrated hand through his hair and stared down at his clasped hands. 

            “He would do whatever he could, no matter who asked.”  He stroked Freya’s hair and looked seriously at Will.  “You had better get to him right away.  The sooner we can take care of this the better.”

            “What if he can’t?” Will’s voice was pitched so low that Merlin almost didn’t hear him.  But he could sense Will’s fear, tensed as it stoked his own.

            “We must pray that that is not the case.”  He shook his head, carefully adjusted Freya in his arms.  “Go, Will.  Hurry.”

            Merlin stayed with Freya, rocking her gently as Will disappeared into the depths of the house.  It was not the first time that Merlin had seen this—an Omega who had been mated with an Alpha against their will.  It was unfortunate that that was why they were here.  Why they were set loose at the first sign of their heat and herded back at the tail end of it.  To produce a child with an Alpha of elevated station as its sire was, according to their captors, a great honor.  Merlin had figured out long ago that they would take the child mere minutes after birth, and the mother would never see it again.  He suspected the children were used as some sort of gambling chip in the politics of war and trade.  It had never been confirmed, he just knew that it was bad.

            Will returned a few minutes later, his mouth set in a grim line.  He bent down and clasped Merlin’s shoulder. 

            “He said he will be down in less than an hour.”

            “Good,” Merlin replied.  He gently nuzzled his face into Freya’s hair, rubbing her back in comfort.  “Come on, Freya.  Let’s get you into bed.” 

            Between the two of them, Merlin and Will pulled Freya to her feet and carefully shuffled her to the back of the house, sequestering her away until Gaius could come and tend to her.  Will peeled the blankets back on his bunk and carefully laid her onto them, tucking the edge of the covers around her body. 

            Merlin watched them from below his fringe of dark hair.  Will was beside himself over this whole thing.  He was holding Freya’s hands, talking quietly to her.  Merlin wasn’t sure how he could stand to be so close.  The smell of mated Alpha and Omega was strong in the air.  It clung heavily to his skin and stung his nose, his instincts telling him to keep far, far away from her.  Freya had been lucky that Cazazel’s sniffers hadn’t been around today.  They would have pulled her from the cage without another thought, and there would have been no opportunity to save her.

            “Merlin.”  Merlin looked up to see Gaius making his way towards him.  The old physician looked tired, but his stride was purposeful.  He glanced casually over his shoulder as he ushered Merlin into the room and shut the door.

            “Thank you for coming, Gaius.” 

            “That’s alright, my boy.”  He patted Merlin’s shoulder and quickly crossed to the bed.  Will stood as Gaius approached, his expression clearly distressed. 

            “Did you bring it?”

            “I will need to be sure that she has conceived before I can administer the tincture,” Gaius said, his voice soft.

            “What do you mean you have to figure out if she’s conceived?  You do realize the likelihood of it not happening, right?  Especially if she’s bonded to an A—to an Al—“

            Merlin gripped Will’s shoulder and pulled him away, growling a low warning.  He understood, he really did.  Will had been in love with Freya for so long that it was wretchedly painful to think she had been stolen before he’d even had a chance with her.  But this was not something that either Will or Freya could control.

            “You have to let Gaius work,” Merlin said quietly, herding Will across the room.  “He’s the physician, not you.”

            “I don’t care,” Will said fiercely, peering over Merlin’s shoulder, brows creased in worry.  “She’s mine, Merlin.  I love her.”

            “I know,” Merlin said gently, squeezing his arm.  “But we can’t change what’s happened, okay?  Gaius will do all he can, and you need to relax.”

            Will whined, his hands clenching and unclenching.

            “She’s bonded, Merlin.”  The agony in his voice made Merlin _hurt_.  “There’s nothing I can do to break that.”

            “Hey,” Merlin said sharply, shoving a hand into Will’s chest. “She needs you to be strong right now.  And you need to realize that she probably won’t ever see him again.”

            “Gentlemen.”  Merlin turned to face Gaius, his heart sinking at the grave expression on his face.  “I am afraid that Freya has indeed conceived.  I can provide a tincture that may terminate the pregnancy and will tamp down the scent of the mating.  I cannot guarantee that it will be effective.”

            “It’s worth a try,” Merlin said.  He looked over his shoulder at Will; he looked like he was going to throw up.

            “Then we shall continue straight away.”  Gaius took a deep breath and carefully extracted a vial filled with a thick green liquid.  Will growled low in his throat before marching forward and snatching the vial from Gaius’s hand.

            “ _Will_ ,” Merlin hissed.

            “I will do it,” he snapped back, hurrying over to Freya.  She looked pale and terrified—clutched at Will as he approached.

            “It’s okay, love,” Merlin heard Will murmur, watched as Will helped her into a sitting position and uncorked the bottle.  It smelled absolutely vile, filling the room and stamping out the smell of the Alpha. 

            Gaius came to stand by him, his eyes sad.

            “I have done all that I can, Merlin.  If I do much more, the others will get suspicious, and it will not bode well for you.”

            “I know,” Merlin sighed.  “Thank you, for all that you have done.  We could not be more grateful.”

            Freya made a great heaving sound as she slurped the sludge in the vial.  Merlin’s stomach clenched; it felt uncomfortably like pity.

            “I have developed a suppressant,” Gaius said quietly.

            “A suppressant?”

            “It prevents you from going into heat.  Or at least keeps you lucid through the duration.”  Merlin eyed Gaius warily.  He had heard of suppressants before, but not since he was captured and thrown into Cazazel’s breeding operation.  Their whole purpose was to breed here.  There was no need for suppressants.

            Gaius swallowed; he looked old, in that moment.  “I cannot provide it to everyone, but I promised your mother long ago that I would take care of you.  I can provide you three with the tincture, but you must tell no one.”

            “We won’t,” Merlin promised quietly.  “Thank you, Gaius.  For everything.”

            The old man smiled, his eyes bright.

            “You deserve to be free, Merlin.  It is the least that I can do.”  Gaius sighed, glancing over at Freya who was doubled over, panting.  “Make sure she drinks the whole thing.  Tell her not to throw it up, if she can.  We will know in a few days.”

            “Of course,” Merlin agreed.  With his final instructions given, Gaius gently gripped Merlin’s shoulder before taking his leave.

 

`~`~`~`~

 

A few days later it was clear that Freya was no longer pregnant.  Her face had taken on a healthy glow and Merlin was sure that he had seen her smile at some point on day three.  Gaius had told them that as long as she didn’t start throwing up by the end of the week, then she was in the clear.

            Merlin was glad for it.  Not only did it mean that Freya’s child would not be taken from her, but it also meant that the Alpha scent was fading from her skin.  Merlin could still smell it faintly, but it was disappearing at a rapid rate.  And that was good, because the Sniffers still hadn’t been by, which meant they would be coming sooner rather than later.  Merlin hoped they would hold out another day or two.  They couldn’t reverse the termination, but Freya could be punished for trying to hide her encounter with an Alpha if they could smell it on her.

            Merlin knew that Will was doing all that he could to rid their home of the stench.  He had caught him rutting against her in the showers late one night, and Will hadn’t left Freya’s side in days.  Merlin was grateful that they had finally figured out that they were perfect for each other, but it just made things complicated because Omegas were not allowed to mate with other Omegas.  Not here.  If Freya got pregnant because Will was too possessive, it could mean death for the both of them.

            When the Sniffers came two days later, Merlin crossed his fingers and hoped desperately that this disaster wouldn’t get worse.  He had feared that the others might tell them in an attempt to secure their freedom, but no one liked the Sniffers, and it didn’t seem as if they were going to speak to them willingly. 

            “Emrys,” one of the Sniffers, Cedric, sneered at him.  He looked like a weasel and treated Merlin like he was the scum of the earth.  Merlin couldn’t stand him and chose not to reply, standing near the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest as the Sniffers went through his belongings.

            “Couldn’t catch a break this time?”  Cedric stepped towards him, leaning forward to skim his nose over Merlin’s chest.   Merlin shivered, barely containing the urge to shove Cedric into the wall and _maul_ him.  “No Alpha wants an Omega as scrawny as you.”

            “You’re one to talk,” Merlin growled back.  The hair on the back of his neck was bristling and he bared his teeth with thinly veiled contempt.  “Haven’t smelled _any_ Alpha on you since I got thrown in here.  What’s it say about you?”

            “I have an Alpha!” Cedric snarled.  Merlin noted that he even had weasel teeth.

            “Clearly you may have an Alpha, but he does not think of you as his Omega, otherwise you would smell like you were claimed.”

            “I’ll claim you—“

            “Oi, stop it,” Valiant hissed.  He reminded Merlin of a snake, lurking behind everyone, waiting for the most opportune time to strike at their vulnerability.  “I don’t want to hear your bickering.”  He stalked over to them, shoving Merlin roughly out of the doorway.  “You keep your smart mouth shut, you understand?”

            Merlin nodded since there was no other appropriate answer and retreated back to the living area.  He forced himself to sit at the table Will and Freya were sharing so that he didn’t do something stupid, like run his mouth any more than he already had.

            He smiled gently at Freya and tried not to draw attention to them.  They were all a little nervous about the Sniffers, but Merlin was confident that they had rubbed enough of their own scent on Freya to mask whatever remained from the bond.  Will had an arm draped over the back of Freya’s chair and he watched the Sniffers from below hooded eyes, his mouth twisted into a half snarl.  Merlin could hear him growling low in his throat.

            Merlin figured he should say something, but remained quiet.  When Will was in one of these moods there was no reasoning with him.  Freya leaned back in her chair, long dark hair brushing against Will’s arm, her face turned towards him.  She murmured something quietly, the ghost of a smile quirking her lips. 

            Merlin looked away, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment. 

            “Alright, you lot,” Edwin, the third Sniffer, started.  “This place is disgusting.  Keep it clean next time, alright?”  He looked out at them, the severe scaring on the right side of his face in stark relief in the gloom of the house.  Merlin wrinkled his nose as Edwin gestured to Cedric and Valiant, ushering them out of the room.  “Stay healthy, old chaps.  We’ll send you out again in no time.”

            “I’ll bloody send you out,” Will grunted hostilely.

            “Stop,” Freya whispered, relaxing into Will’s side.  “It’s done.  We’re safe.”  Will buried his face into her hair, and she and Merlin shared an exasperated look.  Merlin understood Will’s mood, but it didn’t mean his friend wasn’t a little over dramatic. 

            Freya reached across the table and took Merlin’s hand.

            “We’re safe,” she repeated, a real smile curving her lips.  “It will be okay.”

            “Yeah,” Merlin agreed, squeezing her fingers before drawing away.  “We’ll be fine.

 

`~`~`~`~

**6 Months Later**

 

“Fuck,” Merlin swore, digging in his dresser, scrabbling wildly for the little glass bottle hidden under his clothes.  “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

            “Let’s go!” Valiant’s voice boomed through the house, making Merlin wince.  He shoved his hand deeper into the drawer, desperately grabbing for it until—there!—his fingers closed around the vial.  He hurriedly threw the drawer closed and jammed the bottle into his pocket, hurrying out towards the living space. 

            Valiant glared at him as he joined the queue at the door, but Merlin ignored him.  It was like this almost every time they released them out into the world, yelling at them and forcing them into the carriages that would take them to the boarders of the kingdoms. 

            Merlin could feel his heat coming on, his stomach cramping and his whole body aching.  It wouldn’t be another day or so before he was in full heat.  He just hoped that the suppressants worked.  He was looking forward to not having to spend the next week in a lusting stupor.  Maybe he would figure out a way to break them free.

            Will beckoned to him, pulling Merlin forward by the sleeve of his tunic.  His expression was grim as he bent his head.

            “Did you take it?”

            “No,” Merlin whispered back.  He hadn’t had time to take the suppressant before they were herded out of the house.  Gaius had said not to take it until the very last moment.  Merlin was lucky he’d been able to grab it, really.  The bottle rested heavily in his pocket.  “Did you?”

            “I took it this morning.  Freya—“

            Freya was fumbling in her pockets for her own bottle. 

            “You should take it now,” Will said quietly, pulling her against his chest.  “Before we go.”

            “Okay.” Freya’s voice was quiet as she pulled it out, struggling with the cork.

            “Let’s go!” someone—Cedric, Merlin noted—shouted.  He was coming up the line, shoving people around.

            “Hurry,” Will said anxiously, stroking a hand down her back.

            Merlin turned his back to the rest of the line, keeping his shoulders squared. 

            “Stay calm,” he advised, bowing his head.  “You look anxious.  Stop it.”

            “I am anxious,” Will hissed.

            “You’re drawing attention to yourself,” Merlin said gently.  “Relax.”

            “Well isn’t this cozy?”  Cedric’s voice was the only warning Merlin got before he was half thrown into Freya.  He was horrified to realize that he had knocked the vial from her hands.  It fell with a soft thud followed by the sharp snick of breaking glass as Freya scrambled to keep her balance.

            All of the blood drained from her face; Merlin’s chest constricted painfully, and Will looked utterly sick.

            Cedric snickered as he passed, completely oblivious to the disaster he had just caused.

            “Will—“ Freya’s lip trembled, her eyes filling fast with tears.  “I can’t do it again—I can’t—“

            “Hush,” Will said, his voice deceptively cool.  “It’s okay.  You’ll be fine.  It will be okay.”

            “I can’t do this again, Will.  I can’t—“ 

            “Take mine,” Merlin said, hurriedly pulling the bottle from his pocket and popping off the cork.  He pressed it into Freya’s hand, stepping in front of her to shield her from the suspicious gaze of the Sniffers.  “Now, before they catch you.”

            “Merlin, I can’t,” Freya whispered, the tears spilling over.  “It’s for you—“

            “I’ll be fine,” Merlin assured her.  “It’s not the first heat I’ve ever had.”

            Merlin heard her shuddering breath, let his shoulders slump as she squeezed his hand. 

            “Thank you,” Will whispered, tucking Freya into his side as she tipped the bottle back and swallowed the tincture in one go.  “I—just, thank you, Merlin.”

            “Keep her safe,” Merlin said softly in reply, avoiding their gaze.  He couldn’t find it in himself to be upset—Freya needed a clear mind to get over what happened last time.  She and Will deserved a few days alone, safe and sound, where no Alpha could get at them. 

            Merlin swallowed, feeling his throat closing up and his eyes sting.  It was not the first heat he had ever had without a suppressant, but it was the first time he felt as if all of the hope he’d ever harbored for freedom had been ripped from him.

            Will stared at him with a worried expression.

            “I’m fine,” Merlin said before he could ask.  “It will be fine.”

            After all, the likelihood of running into an Alpha was fairly low, and the odds that he would run into _the_ Alpha that would bond him was slim to none.  Merlin just hoped that his luck would hold out and he would return unscathed. 

            He briefly met Will’s gaze as he was ushered into one of the waiting carriages.  He nodded once in his friend’s direction before turning his attention to the wall of the carriage, unable to stop thinking that it better have been worth sacrificing his one chance at escape.


End file.
